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December 2008
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Recently in USC Basketball CategorySolomon Hill, the LA Fairfax wing player ranked 13th at his position nationally in this year's recruiting class, has chosen USC after deciding not to attend Arizona after Lute Olson's sudden retirement. The Trojans look like they'll go with 6-foot-6 freshman Leonard Washington against visiting San Francisco tonight at 7:30 at Galen Center. The Dons are an impressive 5-1 while USC (4-2) hopes to extend its 3-0 homecourt record in this one. SFU is led by the 20.2 ppg of 6-7, 230-pound Dior Lowhorn but also features a pair of Orange County starters, both from Irvine -- 6-6 junior forward Blake Wallace and 6-4 freshman guard Chris O'Brien. USC of course is led by 6-9 junior Taj Gibson's 16.8 ppg and 10.8 rpg. USC is now 3-0 at Galen Center and has won seven straight on its home court, where the record is nine straight in the first season, 2006-2007. After last night's 40-17 halftime lead, the fast-starting Trojans have led after the first half in all six games this season with that 23-point lead the biggest this season after 20 minutes. Career firsts: Marcus Simmons first-ever start and Percy Miller's first-ever points scored. Next game: USC hosts San Francisco (4-1) Monday at 7:30 p.m. It was the performance USC's thinned-out Trojans needed after a pair of jet-lagged losses last week in Puerto Rico. Coming out in an aggressive man-to-man, USC (4-2) hounded the Skyhawks of the Ohio Valley Conference into 29.0 percent shooting (18 of 62) while settling into a perimeter-oriented lineup that should look like the team the Trojans featured two years ago with Niick Young and Gabe Pruitt. Taj Gibson, despite two quick fouls, came back for 15 points and eight rebounds to lead the Trojans although freshman leonard Washington had game-high totals of nine rebounds and three blocked shots. Dwight Lewis fired in 13 points and Daniel Hackett, with eight points, six rebounds five assists and two turneovers, had a solid all-around game. Percy Miller, AKA Li'l Romeo, scored his first two career points. Lester Hudson, UTM's senior guard who was fifth in the nation in scoring last year (25.2 ppg) hit for 20 but it took him 24 shots (he hit eight) to do so. Playing like they were supposed to at the start of the season, USC's Trojans jumped all over the Tennessee-Martin Skyhawks Friday, leading 38-12, with 3:18 left in the first half. For those who tried to watch USC a week ago in Puerto Rico, this was a Trojan team without all the unforced errors, dumb fouls and really awful shooting. It's halftime now and USC leads 40-17. Pretty decent effort. UTM not all that terrible a team. Don't think anyone saw this coming. USC is starting 6-foot-6 redshirt freshman Marcus Simmons along with Taj Gibson, DeMar DeRozan, Dwight Lewis and Daniel Hackett. Check that, Gibson just committed USC's third foul, his first, in the first 1:10 and he's out of there with Leonard Washington, who promptly misses two layups, in for him. Reason Simmons is in the game is now clear. He's guarding UTM's 6-2 guard Lester Hudson, averaging 24.8 ppg. The hope Wednesday afternoon was that the surgery on redshirt sophomore Kasey Cunningham's knee would only have to repair was some cartilage damage -- and maybe he'd be able to return this season. That turned out not to be the case. And now the 6-foot-7 inside player from Albuquerque who was giving USC strong support off the bench will miss the rest of the season. Here's the official word from USC Wednesday night. LOS ANGELES - USC redshirt sophomore forward Kasey Cunningham had reconstructive left anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) surgery Wednesday (Nov. 26) at White Memorial Medical Center in Los Angeles, performed by Dr. Thomas Vangsness. He is expected to miss the remainder of the season. Cunningham had arthroscopic surgery scheduled today to remove torn cartilage and examine the ACL. Examination of the ACL showed that reconstruction was necessary and it was repaired at that time. Cunningham injured his knee on Nov. 23 vs. Missouri in a third-round game at the Puerto Rico Tip-Off. He scored a basket to put USC ahead 59-57 at the 10-minute mark of the second half, but was hit on the left side of the knee as he went up for the basket. Cunningham finished the game with a career-high 11 points and six rebounds in 14 minutes. USC was outscored 26-13 down the stretch and fell to the Tigers, 83-72. Cunningham missed his entire freshman season due to a left knee injury suffered during his senior year of high school which required surgery, then reinjured the knee last season, after only nine games of action. He had surgery on Dec. 28, 2007 to repair his left ACL and meniscus. The 6-7 forward averaged 2.8 points and 2.8 rebounds in four games played this season. Here's the word on USC redshirt sophomore Kasey Cunningham, injured Sunday against Missouri in the Puerto Rico Tipoff Tourney. From the USC SID office: LOS ANGELES - USC redshirt sophomore forward Kasey Cunningham will have arthroscopic left knee surgery tomorrow (Nov.26) at White Memorial Medical Center in Los Angeles to remove a piece of torn cartilage. His ACL will be evaluated arthroscopically. There is no timetable yet for his return. Cunningham injured his knee on Nov. 23 vs. Missouri in a third-round game at the Puerto Rico Tip-Off. He scored a basket to put USC ahead 59-57 at the 10-minute mark of the second half, but was hit on the left side of the knee as he went up for the basket. Cunningham finished the game with a career-high 11 points and six rebounds in 14 minutes. USC was outscored 26-13 down the stretch and fell to the Tigers, 83-72. Cunningham missed his entire freshman season due to a left knee injury suffered during his senior year of high school, then reinjured the knee last season, after only nine games of action. He had surgery on Dec. 28, 2007 to repair his left ACL and meniscus. The 6-7 forward is averaging 2.8 points and 2.8 rebounds in his first four games played this season.
Just a thought for the hard-working publicity folks in the Pac-10. We know it's Thanksgiving week but it may not be such a good idea to use the word "turkey'' in a headline highlighting Pac-10 "hoops'' right now. As in this week's release: "Turkey and Hoops''
Then there's Arizona losing to UAB and Washington getting pounded every time you turn around and Oregon State. After losing last night's home opener to winless Yale -- Yale -- the Beavers are 0-3 and in good shape to beat last year's 6-25 mark -- the wrong way. Good thing Oregon State is officially a football school these days -- and basketball coach Craig Robinson's brother-in-law Barack Obama has already won the big one. Anyway, here's the week's Pac-10 release: A total of 20 games remain on the docket this week. So, grab a turkey leg, sit back and enjoy... Saturday's showdown between Stanford and Colorado marks the first of this season's 12-game Big 12/Pac-10 Hardwood Series... This week's rankings include UCLA (No. 13 AP/No. 11 ESPN/USA Today) and Arizona State (14/14). THIS WEEK'S SCHEDULE Today., Nov. 25 Wed., Nov. 26 Thurs., Nov. 27 Fri., Nov. 28 Sat., Nov. 29 Sun., Nov. 30 This Week's Tournaments and Neutral Sites
Not too bad a drop for UCLA, after getting beaten by unranked Michigan, in the 2K Sports Classic Thursday at Madison Square Garden. The AP media poll dropped the formerly fourth-ranked Bruins to No. 13 while the coaches in the ESPN/USA Today poll were more kind, dropping UCLA only to the No. 11 spot. USC, formerly No 20/21, received no such favorable treatment after a pair of second-half collapses saw the sloppy Trojans squander double-digit leads in upset losses at the hands of Seton Hall and Missouri. The Trojans fell to No. 35 in the AP poll and No. 37 in the ESPN/USA Today poll. Here are Monday's poll results: AP Top 25 1. North Carolina (72) 3-0 1,800 ESPN/USA Today Poll UCLA dropped and USC dropped out in my AP men's college basketball poll vote this week. Here it is: Week 2 Top 25 men's basketball ballot: 1. North Carolina 2. UConn 3. Louisville 4. Pittsburgh 5. Texas 6. Duke 7. Gonzaga 8. Oklahoma 10. Purdue 11. Arizona State 12. Notre Dame 13. Xavier 15. Marquette 16. Michigan State 18. UCLA 20. Villanova 21. Saint Mary's 22. Georgetown 24. Florida 25. Kansas Now it's not exactly "Breakfast at Wimbledon' but if you're up and looking for someone to watch get your sporting day going, you can catch the USC Trojans and see if they've recovered from their second-half swoon in that Seton Hall upset Thursday. Right before 10 a.m., USC will tip off against a tough Missouri team that played Xavier right down to the wire (who doesn't?) but couldn't get a final shot to go dowm. This fourth-place Puerto RIco Tipoff Tourney game really matters for both of these teams. Missouri's postseason hopes rest on competing, and winning, games like this. And after that Seton Hall game, the one USC led by 15 at halfrime before collapsing and failing to compete in the second half of a 63-61 loss, they have a chance to come out of here with two wins in three games and to show that the Trojans can: 1) handle the ball, against pressure -- or even when there's not any: 2) have someone who can shoot from the outside; 3) have a guard who can finish and score; 4) have a freshman star in DeMar DeRozan who can adjust and play offense. So far he;s been pretty much a no-show when USC has the ball; 5) that the Trojans can get their fullcourt game going, not just sit back and try to run an ugly-looking halfcourt offense that has them having to go through Taj Gibson no matter whether he's double- or triple-teamed. 6) that they can give Gibson, who's playing at an All-American level right now as far as scoring, defending, blocking shots, rebounding and anything else you want him to do. USC's surprised Trojans move into the loser's bracket in the Puerto Rico Tipoff Tournament today at 2 p.m. against winless UT Chattanooga (0-3). The game will be televised at 2 p.m. PST. Depending on whether they play two halves, as they didn't do in allowing a seven-man Seton Hall team catch them at the end Thursday in a 63-61 upset, the Trojans will play either Missouri or Fairfield Saturday. The winner of USC-Chattanooga will play the winner of Missouri-Fairfield Missouri (2-1) lost its fi rst-round game to Xavier, 75-71. Fairfi eld (1-2) lost its fi rst-round game to Virginia Tech, 74-57. Well, that was ugly. College basketball's first two ranked teams to be upset are both from LA, both from the Pac-10, as Dick Vitale will probably remind us, oh, 150 times before the end of the season, and both on the same night, one right after another in games stunning similar with their clear first-half edges for the LA teams and second-half near-offensive collepses, with USC scoring a mere 18 points after intermission, UCLA just 23. Ugly, ugly, ugly. Embarrassing, embarrassing, embarrassing. Back to the drawing board for both of them. For the Pac-10's top two, or two of the top three teams to lose like that to teams projected way down in the Big East, Seton Hall, and a middle of the pack Big Ten team like Michigan is almost enough to wonder if the season is over before it's started.
The conventional thinkin has been that this USC basketball team, with much more depth, and improved three-year starters Taj Gibson, Daniel Hackett and Dwight Lewis, along with super-frosh DeMar DeRozan, would be a better team. Pretty much everybody bought that, including the man who saw the Trojans practice every day -- Tim Floyd.. Only after tonight's 63-61 upset at the hands of a hustling, hang-tough Seton Hall, team, it's clear USC hasn't come close to replacing O.J. Mayo's leadership. The Trojans played totally out of control. And never got under conntrol. No leadership anywhere on the floor resulting in a totally-out-of-control offensive performance the second half that saw USC outscored 35-18. And now the Trojans are victims of the first big upset of the season and only the second Top 25 team to lose and first to be upset. There now also have to be serious questions about DeRozan's inability to have almost any offensive impact at this level. Is his high school background, the lack of any sort of fundamentals and coaching, going to hold him back all season? He's just so lost. But why should he be any different. Only Gibson seems really ready to play and USC couldn't begin to get him the ball once Seton Hall knew they had to shut him down. Then again, maybe it was the overnight travel and lack of rest. OK. That's it. At least now, USC doesn't have to play Memphis or Xavier. Maybe they can get a couple of wins in the loser's bracket. Sure they ran out to a 43-28 halftime lead but USC's second-half "5C'' strategy doesn't seem to be getting it done against a Seton Hall team with just seven scholarship players that has made up 14 of those points to trail by just one.. Careless dribbling. Careless passing. Careless shot selection. Careless free throw shooting. And careless defense. You simply cannot look any worse than the Trojans are the second half. And is DeMar DeRozan still on the team? Just asking. Tuesday night, the Trojans seemed to think the problem was an overly slick new basketball, or they wouldn't have had all those 20 turnovers against New Mexico State.. But watching the Trojans try to play fast with a pressuring Seton Hall, it's pretty clear why O.J. Mayo had to dominate the basketball last season. No one else has showed that when the ball is in any of the Trojans' hands, it always looks really slick. How much would they be leading by without all the unforced errors? They've lost as many as they've signed the last week but the USC basketball program did manage to get two players on the dotted line in the early signing period -- even if they lost two the last week to conference teams. Noel Johnson and Derrick Williams are the signees with Demetrius Walker (to Arizona State) and Mike Moser (to UCLA) the ones lost.. Here's the complete USC release. LOS ANGELES - The USC men's basketball program continued its upward path under head coach Tim Floyd with the announcement today (Nov. 20) that it has received signed national letters of intent (NLIs) from guard Noel Johnson of Fayetteville, Ga. and forward Derrick Williams of La Mirada, Calif. "We have signed two players in the 2009 class and project to have as many as two more which we may use in the spring," said USC men's basketball head coach Tim Floyd. "Noel Johnson is a 6-7 guard from Atlanta, Ga. His father 'Cheese Johnson' was a great player at Wichita State and played in the NBA with Golden State. We felt Noel Johnson was one of the most versatile and sound players fundamentally we have brought into the program. He not only has the ability to score as a shooter, slasher and poster, but has a great ability to get others involved. We are as excited with the signing of Noel as anybody we've brought into the program." Johnson, a 6-7, 180-pound guard/forward, is ranked by Rivals.com as the No. 38 player and the No. 7 small forward in the 2009 class and is an extremely athletic player with a tremendous shooting touch. As a junior at Fayette County HS, Johnson averaged 23.8 points and 8.4 rebounds. Johnson's father Lynbert "Cheese" Johnson was one of the most popular players in Witchita State history, playing there from 1976-79 and being inducted into the WSU Hall of Fame in 1986. Johnson's godfather is Xavier McDaniel, who put together a 14-year NBA career as the fourth overall selection in the 1985 NBA draft out of WSU. Williams is a 6-8, 210-pound forward who averaged 23 points and 12 rebounds as a junior at La Mirada HS. He had eight games of 30 or more points, including a season-high 41 vs. Sylmar on Dec. 28, 2007, and 24 games with double-digits in rebounds. Williams was a named to the second team Best in the West by tthe Long Beach Press Telegram. In three games last season against teams with top-30 recruits, Williams poured in 39, 41 and 33 points. This is why you travel your college basketball team to holiday tourneys: to learn about the world. And what you note about the USC game that tips off today in San Juan, Puerto Rico is that the Trojans tip off at 8 p.m. local time, which will be 7 p.m. EST for the Seton Hall folks from New Jersey and 4 p.m. for those of us on the West Coast. That's because San Juan is east of the Eastern Time Zone in the Atlantic Time Zone. Remember when the Angels played there. It's four hours ahead of us here. USC lost a second basketball player Wednesday when Mike Moser, a 6-foot-7, 185-pound four-star wing from Portland, Ore., Grant HS, ranked the No. 60 player in the country, and the No. 22 small forward, chose UCLA's Bruins over USC according to Scout.com. Moser, originally an Arizona commit, had decommited three weeks ago when Lute Olson retired. USC had apparently joined UCLA at the head of the class for Moser this past weekend after his visit to USC. But Moser made his announcement at just about the last minute a player can sign in this early signing period. He joins UCLA's four-man class announced last Wednesday -- Anthony Stover, Brendan Lane, Reeves Nelson and Tyler Honeycutt.
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